For at least a century or so, April flowers led to showers of May baskets on the front-door knobs of American homes. By Linton Weeks.

Sheelah’s Day is a documented tradition, but whether she existed is another story.

Richard Di Natale says party will campaign to move celebration from 26 January and some Labor MPs say there is a need for conversation

The inconvenient truth of the matter is that the American civil-rights movement began in 1951, in Brevard County, with the assassination of Harry and Harriet Moore on Christmas Day.

It’s the most wonderful fight of the year: the annual tussle between Christians who bravely defend “Merry Christmas” and the godless liberals who want to impose “Happy Holidays” on all of us. Or so the story goes on talk radio. But while President Trump promises to restore “Merry Christmas” to American life, those who insist on using the phrase as a sort of flag for conservative Christian culture misunderstand its history. Rather than religious, its origins are secular and commercial, even profane.

Losing something precious is never a pleasant thing, but losing it at Christmas is especially heartbreaking, and that's what happened to Antioch High School student Shawn Hawkins. His beloved 3DS XL was stolen, and he wrote messages on the school's notice board begging for it to be returned. Trouble by his obvious distress, one of his fellow schoolmates decided to raise the cash to replace the lost console...

One family in Stone Oak woke up to a Christmas surprise on Wednesday. “My head was spinning,” said Eli Mackel. “I really want to know who did this for us.” We normally hear reports of people stealing Christmas decorations from outside homes, but on Wednesday the opposite occurred. “Just something you don't expect -- to have your house decorated for Christmas,” said Mackel.

Who said flying is a drag? One bold and inspired pilot brought seasonal joy to the world by drawing a giant Christmas tree in the sky on a flight path over Germany while doing a test flight of an Airbus A380 aircraft for Emirates.

Cliches about sausage-munching Germans are a thing of the past. These days everything has to be "bio". So is it a surprise that vegan Christmas markets are on the up? A customer's curiosity has been piqued. "The beans there, what's that?" he asks. Sometimes the offerings in the vegetarian-vegan "dining room" at Munich's Winter-Tollwood Christmas market need a bit of explanation.

People around the world have long embraced the spooky side of the holiday season. By Jenni Avins. (Nov. 29, 2017)

A computer glitch has allowed all of American Airlines’ pilots to take vacation during the week of Christmas, according to ABC and Reuters. The error could leave thousands of planes grounded during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Citing the union that represents pilots, Reuters reports that over 15,000 planes currently lack pilot assignments in December. “On Friday, management disclosed a failure within the pilot schedule bidding system,” the Allied Pilots Association said in a statement.

It's part of the 'Spotify Singles: Holiday' playlist, which also features tracks from Wolf Alice, Wyclef Jean and Rostam.

Christmas trading for the UK book market saw its strongest sales in 10 years, new figures have revealed. Nielsen BookScan reports that a total of £83.3m worth of print books were sold in the run-up to Christmas, which marks the highest since 2007. It is also suggested that sales in the UK print book market last year were up for the second year in a row, The Book Seller reports.

Nine people were wounded in daylight shootings in Chicago early Monday, bringing to more than 50 the number of people shot over the long Christmas weekend. Eleven of the 53 people shot between about 4:50 p.m. Friday and about the same time Monday died from their wounds. More than a dozen others were listed in serious or critical condition.

For some countries, the day after Christmas is a holiday in its own right.

Virtual Reality

A Christmas carol service in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo has accidentally printed out the lyrics to late rapper Tupac Shakur’s ‘Hail Mary’ in its programme instead of the 15th century Catholic prayer.  The mix-up occurred at the 2016 Catholic Joy to the World Festival at the city's Nelum Pokuna Theatre during one of Sri Lanka's largest Christmas celebrations earlier this month.

For many, the Christmas holiday in New York City finally comes to life when the sidewalks sprout evergreens.

Bosses at Scotland’s biggest benefits centre have told staff to focus on sanctioning claimants and to forget about processing appeals until after Christmas, according to a whistleblower. The Department for Work and Pensions employee has blown the lid on a drive to prioritise sanctions over appeals after being sickened by the management edict.

In the Welsh folkloric tradition of Mari Lwyd, a horse skull visits your home near Christmas, and you must best it in a challenge of rhymes.